New Delhi: Ankita Sharma, 26, is a resident of Shimla. She loves her city. Earlier, Ankita used to head out every morning for a walk, simply to admire the beauty of her hometown. But, from past one month she has stopped her daily routine. The reason – the path she used to take for her morning stroll has now been covered with all sorts of garbage. But, from this Sunday, Ankita resumed her routine practice. Thanks to ‘Healing Himalayas Foundation’ because of their efforts 600 kilograms of garbage has been removed from just this particular area.

We belong to the earth and it is our duty to keep it clean, with this as my mantra, I started this foundation back in 2015. Back then, I made it my personal mission to do a clean-up in every trek I undertake and educate the locals on how to treat the garbage effectively. In 2016, to give my mission a bigger platform and involve more and more people, so that each and every nukkad of India can become truly swachh, I formulated a foundation ‘Healing Himalayas’, says Pradeep Sangwan founder of Healing Himalayas Foundation.

Today, the organisation has volunteers from across India who take charge of clean-up activities. The details of the clean-up is publicised through the official website and social media of Healing Himalayas.

Currently the group is undertaking clean-up of parts of Shimla and Gurugram.

Our mission to clean-up Shimla and Gurugrams, for this we are organising regular clean-ups every Sunday in both these localities. In few months, we will be able to achieve the swachh target and the area will be cleaned completely, added Pradeep.

So I moved in with few friends recently in gurugram and the backyard had some serious issues. Tried to fix it this Sunday. Dlf phase 3 pic.twitter.com/i7as9TV2P3

The foundation works on three pillars – do a live on ground activity, involve local communities and thirdly spread awareness and educate people on how they can continue to manage the garbage in their locality effectively.

The reason we are holding clean-ups, in whatever parts of India we can, is to sensitise people on why it is important to keep earth clean. Today, plastic garbage is one of the biggest culprits. Look around and you will find it everywhere. This is the reality we want to change. Unless someone gets their hand dirty no one will understand the importance, added Pradeep.

Till date, Healing Himalayas have been successful in clearing 30, 030 kilograms of garbage from different treks trails of India. The foundation has also adopted three villages – Mansari, Karjan and Soyal in Kullu district, where locals are being educated about solid waste management techniques, how to reduce their carbon footprints, helping them clean their areas weekly and more.